Preparation of YBCO film for microwave filter using a hybrid route

Pure (0 0 l)-textured CeO2 buffer layers were deposited on single crystal r-plane Al2O3 (1–102) substrate by a hybrid process which was combined with magnetron sputtering for the seed layer and metal–organic deposition for the subsequent layer. Strongly c-axis oriented YBCO films were deposited on the CeO2 buffered r-cut Al2O3 (1–102) substrates. Atomic force microscope and scanning electronic microscopy results show that the prepared buffers and YBCO films are relatively dense and smooth. The critical current of the YBCO films exceeds 1.5 MA/cm2 at 77 K with the superconducting transition temperature of 90 K. The surface resistivity is as below as 14 μΩ at 1 GHz frequency. The results demonstrate that the hybrid route is a very promising method to prepare YBCO films for microwave application, which can combine the sputtering advantage for preparing of highly c-axis oriented CeO2 buffer layers and the advantages of metal–organic deposition with rapid processing, low cost and easy preparation of large-area YBCO films.